TONEfest “Friends” 2008

Clearwater-Tampa Bay

Come see, hear and play the greatest amps, guitars, effect pedals and accessories ever made!

Aug 15th and 16th, Friday & Saturday

Hosted at

Faith Christian Church

303 N. Myrtle Ave • Clearwater, FL

PLEASE NOTE!!!

This years’ Special TONEfest event is FREE Admission! However we ask that you register in advance by filling out the Online Registration form.

Register In Advance HERE!

A donation to help with expenses is welcomed.

If you have never attended a previous TONEFest event then our goals are simple. We want to provide you the opportunity to come see, hear and play the world’s greatest Vintage and Custom built amps, guitars, effect pedals and accessories.  You will have the opportunity to hear these products demo’d, speak with owners and builders, try them out yourself, and meet a bunch of other great guitar-playing amp enthusiasts, just like yourself.

How We Began…

In 2000 a small group Florida friends gathered their vintage Marshalls, VOXes and Fenders together, and invited interested guitarists to come hear and try out these great old amps that the average musician rarely gets a chance to play. The event was an enthusiastic success and in subsequent years Vintage and Boutique amp owners, as well as custom builders from around the country, joined the events as TONEFest grew. Since that time other similar events have sprung up around the country, as the vintage gear revival continues to push the custom market.

Today the sources for vintage Marshalls, VOXes, Fenders, Hiwatts and others, are diminishing. And as a result, the demand and value of these amps is rising. Similarly, new custom amp builders are crowding their way into the marketplace, to meet the demand of a growing number of discriminating guitarists who are increasingly conscientious about great tone.

For this reason, events like ToneFest have become very important, as they provide the musician with an opportunity to not only play and hear first hand, but to also compare these great amps that you'll rarely find in a music store. For several years we have recorded these amps and made CD's available of the various sample clips of each of the amps that showed at our TONEFests. Also in previous years we published a non-scientific report on how the amps scored with the musicians present. While the amp scoring was competitive, it was purely subjective, based upon how the players liked each amp, as it compared with others in its class.  After 2005 we will no longer competed the amps in “shoot-outs”.  However, we still demo amps in like categories for comparison purposes.

Finally, ToneFest is a time for players to meet, make new friends, renew old acquaintances and generally have some fun around our common love of music.

Our Goals…

The basic premise of ToneFest is very simple.  We want to provide an opportunity to introduce players to the world’s greatest Vintage and Custom Built amps, guitars, effect pedals and accessories, which they would otherwise seldom have an opportunity to try.  Most production amps are marketed through retail outlets, but vintage amps are out of circulation and custom boutique builds are usually marketed by word of mouth and over the Internet. Rare vintage guitars are becoming harder and harder to locate, let alone hear! But we have them show up here every year, at TONE fest. You will also have the chance to play all the hot boutique stomp boxes that everyone has been talking about, since a lot of our participants like to bring in their favorite custom pedals. And you never know who’s going to make a surprise appearance.

At a ToneFest event we want 4 things to happen for our guests:

· Exposure to gear through live demos

· Opportunity to personally play them

· Chance to meet internet forum friends and make new acquaintances

· And of course…tryout gear, jam, and maybe go home with that amp or piece of gear you’ve been wanting!

If You Plan To Attend…

Here’s what you need to do…

· Download the Registration & Gear ID Card form, send in your Registration and email it to nick@nickchamplin.com.

· Make copies of the Gear ID card for each piece of gear you intend to bring.  These ID cards MUST be attached to your gear at all times while at TF (You can make up your own ID cards for your gear as long as it has the pertinent info).

· Download the Amp Data Form if you plan on bringing an amp(s), and fill one out for each amp you bring.  These forms MUST be attached to your amps while at TF.

· Download a copy of the Activities & Daily Schedule.  Read this thoroughly!  It contains detailed explanation of the guideline for our event.  

For more information please feel free to contact Nick at nick@nickchamplin.com

Thank You